Anurag Basu’s film Barfi starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D’Cruz, which has been in the making for nearly 16 months now, has once again been postponed. This time by at least a fortnight.

First, it was Imtiaz Ali’s Ranbir-starrer Rockstar for which Basu repeatedly sacrificed his dates. Next, it was Priyanka Chopra who had difficulty keeping aside three to four days needed to complete the film. And now the inside buzz is there’s much behind-the-scenes debate over Barfi’s unconventional content, so much so producers UTV are insisting on lightening the mood of the film some more.

While Anurag and Ranbir have repeatedly said Barfi is not a grim and dark film, the producers still believe Ranbir’s character needs lightening up. A source close to the film said, “Barfi, for all the claims by its makers and actors is finally about physical and emotional handicaps.”

Apparently, a repair job is in the offing. "Some additional music is being recorded. And some light-hearted scenes featuring Ranbir and Priyanka will have to be shot," said our source. Anurag Basu chose to be defensive: "So many other films that have started after me, including Karan Johar’s Student of the Year are not complete. A false perception is being created that I am taking longer to complete this film than necessary."

He did admit though that some shooting is still left to be done. “There’s a couple of days of patchwork shooting left. We’re working on the editing, background music and post-production of the film,” he said.

Asked whether the producers found the film too grim, he said, "They have three films lined up in August and September: Joker, Heroine and my film. It’s their call in what sequence they want to release them."

Sujata Chanda from UTV said, "We wanted to capitalise on the successful Rowdy Rathore pair hence Joker has been pushed ahead to August 31. Barfi on the other hand needed some more post-production, so the date has been postponed to September 14."

Will Barfi manage to keep this date? All Basu said was: “That’s the date I’ve been told. Baqi sab UTV ke haath mein.”